Collecting Old Books

Most ordinary people think that old books are anywhere from 20 to 100 years old. The fact is that the term old books refer to books made in the 1700s or earlier. Before the 1800s books were typically printed on small hand presses that were only able to turn out a limited amount of books. Larger presses were not used in the mainstream printing community until around the mid 1800s.

Books printed pre 1800 were generally printed on laid or wove paper. Laid paper was made from pulverized cotton and linen. Laid paper was named so because the final product was dried on wire racks. Wove paper was dried on woven mesh and created a distinctive criss cross pattern on the paper that cannot be mistaken for anything else. A quality wove or laid paper book made in the 1700s can easily outlive a book printed in the mid 20th century.

In the mid 1860s book publishers began making paper out of wood pulp. Because of the high acid content of this paper it disintegrates much faster and is a much poorer material than cotton or linen rag. This fact simply makes old books much more collectible than newly printed books that may seem old. If you’re only looking for books to decorate your shelves with it doesn’t matter what kind of old books you get. You can find brightly colored books with decorative bindings, or even finely crafted volumes for a fraction of the original cost, but the value here is all based on what the books look like.

If you are seriously interested in collecting old books pre 1800s there are several places you can look. Flea markets and estate sales are great places to find reasonable prices on lots of books (10-20 or more books). Since there is such a wide variety of book subjects and authors available you should consider looking for books within a specific category. Titles that were also socially or historically significant should not be overlooked. Books like “Robinson Crusoe” and “The Adventures of Mark Twain” although printed often over the years, are still quite valuable.

Of course, first edition books are the ones that you want to be searching for. First edition books have a higher resale value than later copies. Estate sales and flea markets have already been established as great resources for old books, but you can also pick up old books at libraries, and both public and private auctions for only a few dollars. This is part of the reason why book collecting is quickly becoming a popular collector’s area.

Naturally, rare titles are also worth more than just any old book. For example, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was once banned in many parts of the world and some of the original copies have been destroyed or lost. Rare titles sell for a lot more than most old books, which currently go for around $50-$1000. Rare titles typically sell from $100 to well over $1000 depending on the author and subject. Books with attractive leather bindings alone can go for $50 to $100 without even considering who wrote it or what it’s about. Books that also have the dust jacket (if available) will resell for more money.

Some other places that can be good for finding old books are also in your local newspaper. Look for bookstore or library closings to see if they are giving books away at drastically reduced prices or even for free. Sometimes estate sales are listed in the classifieds sections as well as private owners selling collections and volumes. Quality old books can be found if you know where to look. In order to find the best books you have to be active in the old book collecting community in your area. Know what books are out there, which ones are plentiful and which are not and that should give you some clue as to what to start looking for. Good luck!